People Matching for Social Activities on an Online Social Network

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a method includes identifying multiple users of an online social network based on one or more affinity coefficients between the users and a geographical location associated with each of the users and sending a message corresponding to an activity recommendation to each of the users. The method also includes receiving one or more responses to the message from one or more users of the multiple users, respectively, where each response indicates whether the respective user is interested in the recommended activity. The method further includes, if the response from each of at least two of the users indicates an interest in the recommended activity, then sending a notification to each of the users who indicated an interest in the recommended activity identifying the other users who also indicated an interest in the recommended activity. Otherwise, the method includes deactivating the activity recommendation.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to promoting social activities usingan online social network.

BACKGROUND

A social-networking system, which may include a social-networkingwebsite, may enable its users (such as persons or organizations) tointeract with it and with each other through it. The social-networkingsystem may, with input from a user, create and store in thesocial-networking system a user profile associated with the user. Theuser profile may include demographic information, communication-channelinformation, and information on personal interests of the user. Thesocial-networking system may also, with input from a user, create andstore a record of relationships of the user with other users of thesocial-networking system, as well as provide services (e.g., wall posts,photo-sharing, event organization, messaging, games, or advertisements)to facilitate social interaction between or among users.

The social-networking system may send over one or more networks contentor messages related to its services to a mobile or other computingdevice of a user. A user may also install software applications on amobile or other computing device of the user for accessing a userprofile of the user and other data within the social-networking system.The social-networking system may generate a personalized set of contentobjects to display to a user, such as a newsfeed of aggregated storiesof other users connected to the user.

A mobile computing device—such as a smartphone, tablet computer, orlaptop computer—may include functionality for determining its location,direction, or orientation, such as a GPS receiver, compass, gyroscope,or accelerometer. Such a device may also include functionality forwireless communication, such as BLUETOOTH communication, near-fieldcommunication (NFC), or infrared (IR) communication or communicationwith a wireless local area networks (WLANs) or cellular-telephonenetwork. Such a device may also include one or more cameras, scanners,touchscreens, microphones, or speakers. Mobile computing devices mayalso execute software applications, such as games, web browsers, orsocial-networking applications. With social-networking applications,users may connect, communicate, and share information with other usersin their social networks.

SUMMARY OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may facilitateuser engagement in real-world social activities by sending userstargeted and private “icebreaker” messages and soliciting the user'sinterest using a double opt-in flow for confirming interest in thesocial activities. Nowadays, as membership in traditional communityinstitutions declines, so does spending time with people who have commoninterests through these organizations. The number of people one isconnected to and interacts with in the digital world has grownimmensely, but it is often the case that one still socializes withrelatively few people in real life. At the same time, the stigma aroundmeeting people online is rapidly fading, and more people are open to newways of meeting others. One primary friction preventing real-worldconnections is the risk of rejection involved in initiating a socialactivity. Before two people spend time with each other, one of them musttake the initiative to ask others about a particular social activity(e.g., by sending a message), thus risking rejection or awkwardcommunications. Furthermore, there may be a burden of leadership thatprevents interest-based activities from occurring and interest groupsforming. The task of coalescing a critical mass of individuals for asocial activity to occur is often daunting and may be a major deterrenceto people. As a result, while there may be significant mutual interestamong people to socialize with each other, none of them may be willingto take the initiative or to make the effort to make a plan and organizea social activity. Particular embodiments disclosed herein allow thesocial-networking system to function as a “matchmaker” for socialactivities that removes the risk of rejection faced by the users andreduces the burden of planning and coordinating. Particular embodimentsdisclosed herein may provide a location-based service that is highlycustomizable to individual users and that exploits data gathered from aplurality of client systems, the computing capabilities of serversystems, as well as structured data stored in association with an onlinesocial network. The service may employ artificial-intelligence,machine-learning, or other suitable techniques and intelligently grantor restrict user access to particular information using one or moreinformation generating or filtering processes. The service may alsooffer novel user-interface features that enhance the clarity ofdisplayed social-activity information, facilitate decision-making as toactivity recommendations, and save user effort in responding to join ordismiss social activities.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify twoor more users who are likely to be interested in hanging out with eachother and send each of the users a message querying the user's interestin connecting with the other users. The message may be related to aparticular activity recommendation and specify time, location, or otherdetails about the recommended activity. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may send Jack a message, “Wantto hang out with Jill this week?” As another example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may send a more specificmessage, such as “Want to watch the Giants (a professional baseballteam) game with Jill on Friday?” The social-networking system mayreceive one or more responses from one or more of the users indicatingwhether each user is interested in the recommended activity. When atleast a particular number of the users indicate an interested in therecommended activity (e.g., at least two users, all users, etc.), thesocial-networking system may notify each of the interested users theircommon interest. As an example and not by way of limitation, if Jack andJill both indicate an interest in watching the Giants game, thesocial-networking system may send each of them a notification suggestingthem to hang out. The social-networking system may also directly putboth Jack and Jill on a message thread to coordinate (for example, byswitching context from a social-networking application to a messagingapplication). On the other hand, if there are not enough users who areinterested, the social-networking system may keep each user's responseprivate. In this way, the social-networking system may leverage itsaccess to user data, its data analysis capabilities, and its platformfor users to connect and communicate with each other to facilitate userparticipation in real-world social activities.

The embodiments disclosed herein are only examples, and the scope ofthis disclosure is not limited to them. Particular embodiments mayinclude all, some, or none of the components, elements, features,functions, operations, or steps of the embodiments disclosed above.Embodiments according to the invention are in particular disclosed inthe attached claims directed to a method, a storage medium, a system anda computer program product, wherein any feature mentioned in one claimcategory, e.g. method, can be claimed in another claim category, e.g.system, as well. The dependencies or references back in the attachedclaims are chosen for formal reasons only. However any subject matterresulting from a deliberate reference back to any previous claims (inparticular multiple dependencies) can be claimed as well, so that anycombination of claims and the features thereof are disclosed and can beclaimed regardless of the dependencies chosen in the attached claims.The subject-matter which can be claimed comprises not only thecombinations of features as set out in the attached claims but also anyother combination of features in the claims, wherein each featurementioned in the claims can be combined with any other feature orcombination of other features in the claims. Furthermore, any of theembodiments and features described or depicted herein can be claimed ina separate claim and/or in any combination with any embodiment orfeature described or depicted herein or with any of the features of theattached claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example user interface displaying a notificationof pending activity recommendations.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate an example user interface displaying a list ofmessages corresponding to activity recommendations.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate example user interfaces displaying detailed viewsof messages corresponding to activity recommendations.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method for facilitating user engagement insocial activities through targeted and private messaging and a doubleopt-in flow.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example network environment associated with asocial-networking system.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example social graph.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computer system.

DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS People Matching for Social Activities

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may facilitateuser engagement in real-world social activities by sending userstargeted and private “icebreaker” messages and soliciting the user'sinterest using a double opt-in flow for confirming interest in thesocial activities. Nowadays, as membership in traditional communityinstitutions declines, so does spending time with people who have commoninterests through these organizations. The number of people one isconnected to and interacts with in the digital world has grownimmensely, but it is often the case that one still socializes withrelatively few people in real life. At the same time, the stigma aroundmeeting people online is rapidly fading, and more people are open to newways of meeting others. One primary friction preventing real-worldconnections is the risk of rejection involved in initiating a socialactivity. Before two people spend time with each other, one of them musttake the initiative to ask others about a particular social activity(e.g., by sending a message), thus risking rejection or awkwardcommunications. Furthermore, there may be a burden of leadership thatprevents interest-based activities from occurring and interest groupsforming. The task of coalescing a critical mass of individuals for asocial activity to occur is often daunting and may be a major deterrenceto people. As a result, while there may be significant mutual interestamong people to socialize with each other, none of them may be willingto take the initiative or to make the effort to make a plan and organizea social activity. Particular embodiments disclosed herein allow thesocial-networking system to function as a “matchmaker” for socialactivities that removes the risk of rejection faced by the users andreduces the burden of planning and coordinating. Particular embodimentsdisclosed herein may provide a location-based service that is highlycustomizable to individual users and that exploits data gathered from aplurality of client systems, the computing capabilities of serversystems, as well as structured data stored in association with an onlinesocial network. The service may employ artificial-intelligence,machine-learning, or other suitable techniques and intelligently grantor restrict user access to particular information using one or moreinformation generating or filtering processes. The service may alsooffer novel user-interface features that enhance the clarity ofdisplayed social-activity information, facilitate decision-making as toactivity recommendations, and save user effort in responding to join ordismiss social activities.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify twoor more users who are likely to be interested in hanging out with eachother and send each of the users a message querying the user's interestin connecting with the other users. The message may be related to aparticular activity recommendation and specify time, location, or otherdetails about the recommended activity. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may send Jack a message, “Wantto hang out with Jill this week?” As another example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may send a more specificmessage, such as “Want to watch the Giants (a professional baseballteam) game with Jill on Friday?” The social-networking system mayreceive one or more responses from one or more of the users indicatingwhether each user is interested in the recommended activity. When atleast a particular number of the users indicate an interested in therecommended activity (e.g., at least two users, all users, etc.), thesocial-networking system may notify each of the interested users theircommon interest. As an example and not by way of limitation, if Jack andJill both indicate an interest in watching the Giants game, thesocial-networking system may send each of them a notification suggestingthem to hang out. The social-networking system may also directly putboth Jack and Jill on a message thread to coordinate (for example, byswitching context from a social-networking application to a messagingapplication). On the other hand, if there are not enough users who areinterested, the social-networking system may keep each user's responseprivate. In this way, the social-networking system may leverage itsaccess to user data, its data analysis capabilities, and its platformfor users to connect and communicate with each other to facilitate userparticipation in real-world social activities.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify aplurality of users of the online social network who are likely to beinterested in hanging out with each other. The users may be identifiedbased at least in part on one or more affinity coefficients between theusers. The users may additionally or alternatively be identified basedat least in part on a geographical location associated with each of theusers. In particular embodiments, the social-networking system mayidentify the plurality of users based on one or more suitable factorsother than the affinity coefficients and geographical locations. The useof user information in the identification process may be subject to oneor more privacy settings of the users.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify theusers based at least in part on proximity among one or more of thegeographical locations associated with one or more of the users,respectively. The consideration of geographical proximity may serve tomake any activity recommended by the social-networking system convenientfor the users. Alternatively, the social-networking system may identifyone or more users who are not in geographical proximity with each otherand suggest the users to travel to participate in a recommendedactivity.

In particular embodiments, an affinity coefficient between any two usersmay quantify the strength of a relationship or level of interest betweenthe users. The affinity coefficient between a given pair of users may becalculated based at least in part on a variety of factors including, forexample, a degree of separation between the users in a social graph ofthe online social network, a commonality between the users (e.g.,hometown, education, interest), a social-interaction history between theusers, demographic information of the users, other suitable factors, orany combination thereof. The social-networking system may determine thattwo users having a high affinity coefficient are likely to have a strongrelationship and are likely to be interested in hanging out with eachother.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking systemmay identify a user John, who lives in Palo Alto, Calif., and a userJane, who lives in Menlo Park, Calif., which is a city adjacent to PaloAlto. The social-networking system may determine that John and Jane arein geographical proximity with each other as Palo Alto and Menlo Parkare neighboring cities. It may further determine that John and Jane havea high affinity coefficient with each other as they are friends on theonline social network and interact frequently thereon. Thesocial-networking system may conclude that John and Jane are likely tobe interested in hanging out with each other and, accordingly, send anicebreaker message (i.e., a message corresponding to an activityrecommendation) to each of them recommending a social activity with theother.

In particular embodiments, each of the identified users may be within aparticular degree of separation within a social graph of the onlinesocial network from each of the other identified users. This may allowthe social-networking system to shape the nature of the recommendedevent. In particular embodiments, the identified users may befirst-degree contacts (e.g., friends) of each other, first- orsecond-degree contacts (e.g., friends of friends) of each other, orsecond- or higher-degree contacts of each other (e.g., strangers) on theonline social network. For a particular user, the differentdegree-of-separation scenarios may correspond to, for example, hangoutswith close friends (e.g., first-degree contacts only), party within theuser's general social circle (e.g., first- or second-degree contactsonly), mixers with non-friends who have mutual friends or commoninterests (e.g., second-degree contacts only), blind dates (e.g.,second- or third-degree contacts only), etc.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify theplurality of users further based on one or more selection rules. Theselection rules may take into account information about one or moreprior messages corresponding to activity recommendations sent by thesocial-networking system. As an example and not by way of limitation, atleast one of the selection rules may specify that identifying one ormore of the users is based on a condition that the one or more of theusers are not identified for a different activity recommendation withina specified time period. For example, if the social-networking systemidentified a first user and a second user and sent them an icebreakermessage recommending a social activity, the social-networking system mayrefrain from sending both users another icebreaker message within, forexample, a month thereafter. As another example and not by way oflimitation, after one or more users who are first-degree contacts witheach other all indicate an interest in a particular recommended activityand participated in the activity, the social-networking system mayidentify each of the interested users and one or more other users whoare a first-degree contact with at least one but not all of theinterested users for a follow-up activity. Although this disclosuredescribes identifying particular users in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates identifying any suitable users in any suitablemanner.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may send amessage corresponding to an activity recommendation to each of theidentified users. The message may comprise identification information ofone or more of the other users of the plurality of users and a promptfor a response from the receiving user indicating whether the receivinguser is interested in the recommended activity. The prompt for responsemay be in the form of an icebreaker question (i.e., a question askingwhether the receiving user is interested in engaging in the recommendedactivity with the other users). As an example and not by way oflimitation, after identifying users John and Jane as likely to beinterested in hanging out with each other, the social-networking systemmay send John a message comprising the icebreaker question “Want to hangout with Jane this week?” and send Jane a message comprising theicebreaker question “Want to hang out with John this week?”

In particular embodiments, the activity recommendation sent by thesocial-networking system may contain a range of amount of details. Themessage may comprise one or more of a time period associated with theactivity recommendation, a geographical location associated with theactivity recommendation, a description of the recommended activity,other suitable details, or any combinations thereof. As an example andnot by way of limitation, an icebreaker message sent to Jane may broadlysuggest her to chat or connect with John in the next month, mayspecifically suggest her to get lunch with John this weekend, or tosuggest her to have coffee with John at exactly 3 p.m. this Sunday atStarbucks.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may generate theactivity recommendation based on a common interest associated with oneor more of the identified users. The common interest may be determinedbased on one or more user profiles associated with the one or more ofthe identified users, respectively. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may access profile informationof both John and Jane and determine that both of them are fans of theSeattle Seahawks (a professional football club). The social-networkingsystem may customize an icebreaker message sent to each of John and Janeand ask them to watch a Seattle Seahawks game together.

In particular embodiments, a social graph associated with thesocial-networking system may comprise a plurality of nodes and aplurality of edges connecting the nodes. Each of the edges between twoof the nodes may represent a single degree of separation between them.The nodes may comprise a plurality of first nodes corresponding to theplurality of identified users and a plurality of second nodescorresponding to a plurality of objects associated with the onlinesocial network, respectively. The message corresponding to the activityrecommendation sent by the social-networking system may further comprisea reference to an object of the plurality of objects, the object beingassociated with the activity recommendation. The second nodecorresponding to the referenced object may be connected to one or moreof the first nodes by one or more of the edges, respectively. Thereference to objects associated with the online social network may besubject to one or more of the users' privacy settings regarding theirconnections to other users or objects. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may identify the users John andJane and access their respective nodes in the social graph. Thesocial-networking system may determine that each of the nodes isconnected to a node representing the object Stanford University by anedge, as both users are students of Stanford University. Based on thisdetermination, the social-networking system may send John and Jane amessage including a recommendation that they go to an on-campus concert,the message referring to the object Stanford University.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may generate theactivity recommendation based on one or more prior activities associatedwith one or more users of the plurality of users, one or more responsesto one or more prior messages corresponding to activity recommendationsreceived from one or more users of the plurality of users, one or moreupcoming events associated with one or more users of the plurality ofusers, other suitable factors, or any combination thereof. Thesocial-networking system may record a user's prior responses toicebreaker questions and history of participating in social activitiessuggested by the social-networking system. Based on such information,the social-networking system may determine the user's interest in afuture activity with another user. As an example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may access a picture posted byJohn tagging John, Jane, Jack, and Jill at a football game. Thesocial-networking system may generate an activity recommendation for thefour users to go to a future football game based on this prior activityassociated with the users. As another example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may have previously sent Maryand Mike a message including a recommendation to attend a wine-tastingevent. Neither Mary nor Mike responded to the message. Thesocial-networking system may have also sent Mary and Mike a messageincluding a recommendation to attend a beer-tasting event. Bothresponded to indicate their interest. The social-networking system maythereby determine that Mary and Mike are more interested in beer than inwine and send them an icebreaker question soliciting their interest asto dinner at a local brewery. As yet another example and not by way oflimitation, the social-networking system may determine that both Adamand Bob have signed up for a musical show. It may further determine thattheir homes are five-minute-drive away from each other and are bothtwo-hour-drive away from the theatre. The social-networking system maygenerate a recommendation that Adam and Bob carpool to the show and senda corresponding message to each of them.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may use anactivity-recommendation process. Sending each icebreaker messagecorresponding to an activity recommendation may be performed as part ofthe activity-recommendation process of the online social network. Theactivity-recommendation process may send messages corresponding toactivity recommendations at a pre-determined frequency. The frequencymay be automatically determined by the social-networking system or bespecified by a particular user of the online social network. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a user John may receive aplurality of messages from the social-networking system recommendingactivities with a plurality of other users as part of theactivity-recommendation process. The social-networking system mayoriginally send John one message per day. John may be willing to seemore options and may change his frequency settings to specify thispreference. Based on John's frequency settings, the social-networkingsystem may begin to send John five such icebreaker messages per day. Theactivity-recommendation process may also track and record a user'sresponses to messages corresponding to activity recommends.User-specific traits and preferences may be derived from the user'sresponse history.

In particular embodiments, each activity recommendation may beassociated with an expiry date. The social-networking system maydeactivate the activity recommendation when the expiry date has passed.As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking systemmay send each of John and Jane a message recommending them to hang outduring the upcoming weekend. The social-networking system may set theexpiry date for the message to be the Sunday of the specified weekend.If Sunday has passed and neither John nor Jane has responded to themessage, the social-networking system may deactivate this activityrecommendation. Although this disclosure describes sending particularmessages corresponding to particular activity recommendations toparticular users in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatessending any suitable communication to any suitable users in any suitablemanner.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may receive oneor more responses to the message from one or more users of the pluralityof users, respectively. Each response may indicate whether therespective user is interested in hanging out with the other usersidentified in the message or in the recommended activity. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, after sending each of John and Jane amessage recommending them to hang out in the upcoming weekend, thesocial-networking system may receive a “Yes” response from each of theusers indicating an interested in the recommended activity. Althoughthis disclosure describes receiving particular responses from particularusers in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplates receiving anysuitable communications from any suitable users in any suitable manner.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example user interface displaying a notificationof pending activity recommendations. In particular embodiments, thesocial-networking system may send a notification 110 associated withicebreaker messages to a client system 530 associated with a user fordisplay. The notification 110 may be a push notification by anapplication associated with the social-networking system or anothersuitable type of notification. It may be displayed in a lock-screen userinterface. The notification 110 may indicate to the user that messagescorresponding to activity recommendations are pending and provide acount of such messages. The user may interact with the notification 110to open the application associated with the social-networking system andaccess the messages. Although FIG. 1 illustrates a particular userinterface displaying a particular notification in a particular manner,this disclosure contemplates any suitable user interface displaying anysuitable notification in any suitable manner.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate an example user interface displaying a list ofmessages corresponding to activity recommendations. In particularembodiments, the social-networking system may provide for display a userinterface 210 comprising one or more icebreaker messages for aparticular user. The user interface 210 may be displayed within anapplication associated with social-networking system, within a webbrowser, or within another suitable application. The user interface 210may comprise icebreaker messages 220. Each of the icebreaker messages220 may correspond to an activity recommendation generated by thesocial-networking system. In particular embodiments, each icebreakermessage 220 may comprise a text section 222 identifying one or moreother users and describing a recommended activity. Each icebreakermessage 220 may also comprise one or more profile pictures 224associated with the identified users. Each icebreaker message 220 mayfurther comprise one or more interactive elements 226 allowing the userto input a response. As an example and not by way of limitation, theuser may click or tap on the “I'm In” button to indicate an interest inthe recommended activity. The user may click or tap on the “No thanks”button to indicate a lack of interest, upon which the correspondingicebreaker message 220 may be dismissed and removed from the userinterface 210. The user interface 210 may comprise a search field 215allowing a user to search for one or more of the icebreaker messages 220by entering a text string. The user interface 210 may further comprise amessage 230 that includes a question 232 asking if the user isinterested in a new type of icebreaker messages (e.g., potential dates).The user may interact with interactive elements 234 to indicate aninterest (e.g., “Learn More”) or a lack of interest (e.g., “No Thanks”).If the user indicates an interest, the social-networking system mayproceed to provide one or more icebreaker messages recommending dateswith strangers.

In particular embodiments, the activity recommendations provided by thesocial-networking system may contain different levels of details. As anexample and not by way of limitation, the icebreaker message 220 a mayspecify in section 222 a a specific activity (i.e., get lunch) and aspecific day (i.e., tomorrow). As another example and not by way oflimitation, the icebreaker message 220 b may only comprise a high levelquestion 222 b (“Hang out with Rachel, Jamie, and Will this weekend?”).As yet another example and not by way of limitation, the icebreakermessage 220 d may provide specific details in section 222 d, including aspecific activity (i.e., get dinner), a specific time (tomorrow night at8:00 pm), and a specific location (e.g., Lolinda). In particularembodiments, the social-networking system may recommend socialactivities associated with other users having different degrees ofseparation from the user. As an example and not by way of limitation,the icebreaker message 220 d recommends an activity with a first-degreecontact Peter. As another example and not by way of limitation, theicebreaker message 220 c recommends an activity with a first-degreecontact John and a second-degree contact Nancy. Although FIGS. 2A-2Billustrate a particular user interface displaying particular messages ina particular manner, this disclosure contemplates any suitable userinterface displaying any suitable messages in any suitable manner.

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate example user interfaces displaying detailed viewsof messages corresponding to activity recommendations. In particularembodiments, the social-networking system may provide a detailed viewfor each icebreaker message. The user may access the detailed view by,for example, tapping on an icebreaker message 220 in the user interface210. As illustrated by FIG. 3A, the detailed view 310 may comprise anicebreaker question 312 (“Want to go out for drinks tomorrow night?”),identification information for one or more other identified users 314,and a text string 316 explaining a privacy status of the message 310.For example, the text string may explain that “[n]o one will know ifyou're in unless (s)he is in.” The detailed view 310 may furthercomprise interactive elements 318 allowing the user to respond.

Similarly, the detailed view 320 may comprise an icebreaker question 322(“Want to get lunch this weekend?”), identification information for oneor more other identified users 324, and a text string 326 explaining aprivacy status of the message 320. The privacy status for the message320 may be different from that for the message 310. For example, each ofthe users identified in the message 320 may get informed about whethereach other user is interested in the event only if everyone is in. Thedetailed view 320 may further comprise interactive elements 328 allowingthe user to respond. Although FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate particular views ofparticular messages displayed in a particular manner, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable views of any suitable messages displayed inany suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may take one ormore follow-up steps according to a double opt-in flow responsive toreceiving one or more responses from the users. The social-networkingsystem may require a threshold number (e.g., two, five, ten) of positiveresponses to an icebreaker question before notifying any user of otheruser's interest. As an example and not by way of limitation, if theresponse from each of at least two of the users indicates an interest ina recommended activity, then the social-networking system may send anotification to each of the users who indicated an interest in therecommended activity identifying the other users who also indicated aninterest in the recommended activity. Alternatively, thesocial-networking system may require a positive response from each ofthe users who received the icebreaker message in order to notify any ofthe users. If the social-networking system fails to receive thethreshold number of positive responses from the users within aparticular timeframe, it may refrain from notifying any user about thedecisions of other users and deactivate the activity recommendation. Thesocial-networking system may deactivate the activity recommendationimmediately after it receives a certain number of rejections of theactivity recommendation or when an expiry date associated with activityrecommendation passes without receiving a sufficient number of positiveresponses. In this manner, a user's interest in a particular activity isonly revealed to a number of other users who also indicate theirinterest. This protects each user's privacy and removes the risk ofrejection that a user would normally face in initiating a socialactivity.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may send thenotification to each of the users who indicated an interest in therecommended activity identifying the other users who also indicated aninterest in the recommended activity in one or more different manners.As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking systemmay initiate a message thread including each of the users who indicatedan interest in the recommended activity, on which the users maycommunicate to coordinate the activity. As another example and not byway of limitation, the social-networking system may send each user apush notification, a direct message, a wall post, an email, an SMSmessage, another suitable type of communication, or any combinationthereof. As yet another example and not by way of limitation, thesocial-networking system may generate an event object on the onlinesocial network with the users who indicated an interest in therecommended activity as invitees. The event object may compriseinformation associated with the activity recommendation; suchinformation may be modifiable by the invited users.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking systemmay send each of users John, Jane, Jack, and Jill an icebreaker messagecomprising an activity recommendation to hang out with the other threeusers. In one scenario, the four users may each respond to indicate aninterest in the recommended activity. The social-networking system mayaccordingly initiate a message thread including all four users for themto coordinate the activity. In another scenario, John may respond to theicebreaker message indicating an interest in the recommended activity.Jane and Jack may respond to reject the activity recommendation. Jillmay not respond to the icebreaker message within a pre-determinedone-week time limitation for it. In this case, the social-networkingsystem may deactivate the activity recommendation without notifying anyof the users about other users' responses. Although this disclosuredescribes sending particular notifications to particular users in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates sending any suitablecommunications to any suitable users in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify agroup of users for an activity recommendation using an iterativeprocess. The social-networking system may first send an icebreakermessage to a plurality of first users and receive a response from eachof at least two of the first users indicating an interest in therecommended activity. The social-networking system may identify one ormore second users of the online social network based onsocial-networking information associated with the at least two of thefirst users. The identified second users may be social contacts of theat least two of the first users. The social-networking system may thensend the message corresponding to the activity recommendation to each ofthe second users and receive one or more responses to the message fromone or more second users, respectively, each response indicating thatthe respective second user is interested in the recommended activity.The social-networking system may send an additional notification to eachof the users (including first users and second users) who indicated aninterest in the recommended activity identifying the other users whoalso indicated an interest in the recommended activity.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the social-networking systemmay identify a group of first users who are likely to be interested inan event and send an icebreaker question to each of the first users. Forexample, the social-networking system may send a message to each memberof an outdoor recreation club recommending a hiking trip in the RockyMountains. The social-networking system may receive responses from twoof the first users John and Jane indicating an interest in therecommended activity. Based on the responses, the social-networkingsystem may identify one or more second users based on social-networkinginformation associated with John and Jane. The second users may not bein the original group of users, but may be social connections of the twofirst users. For example, the social-networking system may identify Maryand Mike, who are not members of the outdoor recreation club, but areboth first-degree friends of John and Jane and both live in the RockyMountain area. The social-networking system may also determine that thetwo first users, John and Jane, and the two second users, Mary and Mike,are likely to be interested in hanging out with each other. Thesocial-networking system may then send updated icebreaker messages toeach of the four users to verify their interests.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may identify,for a particular user, one or more other users that the particular useris interested in hanging out with based on relevant historical records.For a first user, the social-networking system may record one or moreresponses by the first user to one or more prior messages correspondingto activity recommendations and identify one or more second usersidentified in the prior messages. Based on the recorded responses, thesocial-networking system may compile a list of users of interest to thefirst user, the list comprising one or more of the second users. Thelist of users may comprise one or more close friends of the first user,with whom the first user would like to frequently socialize. Thesocial-networking system may accordingly recommend future activitiesinvolving the first user and other users on the first user's list.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may allow a userto affirmatively provide a list of other users of interest. Thesocial-networking system may store this list received from the user andrepetitively provide icebreaker messages involving the user providingthe list and the listed users suggesting different times, locations, andactivities. In particular embodiments, the plurality of users identifiedfor a particular activity recommendation may comprise a first user andone or more second users identified in a list of users of interest tothe first user received from the first user.

In particular embodiments, the social-networking system may provideicebreaker questions in a privacy-aware manner. It may access privacysettings of the users to make sure that icebreaker questions do notreveal facts (e.g., geographical location, school, friend list) that arenot visible (i.e., non-public or inaccessible) to particular users. Inparticular embodiments, for each user of the plurality of identifiedusers, the social-networking system may access one or more privacysettings associated with the user and determining, based on the privacysettings and prior to sending the icebreaker message, that thegeographical location of the user is visible to each of the other usersof the plurality of users. As an example and not by way of limitation, aprofile of a user John on the online social network may indicate that hecurrently lives in San Francisco. John may have marked such locationinformation private or invisible to anyone but himself. Based on John'sprivacy settings, the social-networking system may refrain fromincluding John in an icebreaker message recommending a local activity inSan Francisco because one or more other users may infer that John livesin San Francisco based on the message.

In particular embodiments, for each user of the plurality of identifiedusers, the social-networking system may access one or more privacysettings associated with the user and verifying, based on the privacysettings and prior to sending the message, that information associatedwith the user in the message is visible to each of the other users ofthe plurality of users. As an example and not by way of limitation, auser Jane may make information about her education history, includingher alma mater Stanford University, private. In this case, thesocial-networking system may refrain from sending Jane an icebreakermessage recommending her to attend an alumni event of StanfordUniversity to avoid disclosing Jane's education information to anotheruser. As another example and not by way of limitation, if a user Jack'sprivacy settings make his friend relationship with another user Jillprivate, the social-networking system may refrain from sending anicebreaker message to James suggesting him to hang out with Jack andJill. This is because James may figure out that Jack and Jill arefriends on the online social network based on the message.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method 400 for facilitating userengagement in social activities through targeted and private messagingand a double opt-in flow. The method may begin at step 410, where asocial-networking system may identify a plurality of users of an onlinesocial network based on one or more affinity coefficients between theusers and a geographical location associated with each of the users. Atstep 420, the social-networking system may send a message correspondingto an activity recommendation to each of the users. The message maycomprise identification information of one or more of the other users ofthe plurality of users and a prompt for a response from the receivinguser indicating whether the receiving user is interested in therecommended activity. At step 430, the social-networking system mayreceive one or more responses to the message from one or more users ofthe plurality of users, respectively. Each response indicates whetherthe respective user is interested in the recommended activity. At step440, the social-networking system may determine if it has receivedresponses from at least two of the users, each indicating an interest inthe recommended activity. If so, the social-networking system mayproceed to step 450 and send a notification to each of the users whoindicated an interest in the recommended activity identifying the otherusers who also indicated an interest in the recommended activity.Otherwise, the social-networking system may proceed to step 460 anddeactivate the activity recommendation. Particular embodiments mayrepeat one or more steps of the method of FIG. 4, where appropriate.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates particular steps ofthe method of FIG. 4 as occurring in a particular order, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable steps of the method of FIG. 4 occurring in anysuitable order. Moreover, although this disclosure describes andillustrates an example method for facilitating user engagement in socialactivities through targeted and private messaging and a double opt-inflow including the particular steps of the method of FIG. 4, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable method for facilitating userengagement in social activities through targeted and private messagingand a double opt-in flow including any suitable steps, which may includeall, some, or none of the steps of the method of FIG. 4, whereappropriate. Furthermore, although this disclosure describes andillustrates particular components, devices, or systems carrying outparticular steps of the method of FIG. 4, this disclosure contemplatesany suitable combination of any suitable components, devices, or systemscarrying out any suitable steps of the method of FIG. 4.

System Overview

FIG. 5 illustrates an example network environment 500 associated with asocial-networking system. Network environment 500 includes a clientsystem 530, a social-networking system 560, and a third-party system 570connected to each other by a network 510. Although FIG. 5 illustrates aparticular arrangement of client system 530, social-networking system560, third-party system 570, and network 510, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable arrangement of client system 530,social-networking system 560, third-party system 570, and network 510.As an example and not by way of limitation, two or more of client system530, social-networking system 560, and third-party system 570 may beconnected to each other directly, bypassing network 510. As anotherexample, two or more of client system 530, social-networking system 560,and third-party system 570 may be physically or logically co-locatedwith each other in whole or in part. Moreover, although FIG. 5illustrates a particular number of client systems 530, social-networkingsystems 560, third-party systems 570, and networks 510, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable number of client systems 530,social-networking systems 560, third-party systems 570, and networks510. As an example and not by way of limitation, network environment 500may include multiple client system 530, social-networking systems 560,third-party systems 570, and networks 510.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable network 510. As an example andnot by way of limitation, one or more portions of network 510 mayinclude an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a widearea network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network(MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public SwitchedTelephone Network (PSTN), a cellular telephone network, or a combinationof two or more of these. Network 510 may include one or more networks510.

Links 550 may connect client system 530, social-networking system 560,and third-party system 570 to communication network 510 or to eachother. This disclosure contemplates any suitable links 550. Inparticular embodiments, one or more links 550 include one or morewireline (such as for example Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Data OverCable Service Interface Specification (DOC SIS)), wireless (such as forexample Wi-Fi or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access(WiMAX)), or optical (such as for example Synchronous Optical Network(SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)) links. In particularembodiments, one or more links 550 each include an ad hoc network, anintranet, an extranet, a VPN, a LAN, a WLAN, a WAN, a WWAN, a MAN, aportion of the Internet, a portion of the PSTN, a cellulartechnology-based network, a satellite communications technology-basednetwork, another link 550, or a combination of two or more such links550. Links 550 need not necessarily be the same throughout networkenvironment 500. One or more first links 550 may differ in one or morerespects from one or more second links 550.

In particular embodiments, client system 530 may be an electronic deviceincluding hardware, software, or embedded logic components or acombination of two or more such components and capable of carrying outthe appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by clientsystem 530. As an example and not by way of limitation, a client system530 may include a computer system such as a desktop computer, notebookor laptop computer, netbook, a tablet computer, e-book reader, GPSdevice, camera, personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld electronicdevice, cellular telephone, smartphone, augmented/virtual realitydevice, other suitable electronic device, or any suitable combinationthereof. This disclosure contemplates any suitable client systems 530. Aclient system 530 may enable a network user at client system 530 toaccess network 510. A client system 530 may enable its user tocommunicate with other users at other client systems 530.

In particular embodiments, client system 530 may include a web browser532, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, GOOGLE CHROME or MOZILLAFIREFOX, and may have one or more add-ons, plug-ins, or otherextensions, such as TOOLBAR or YAHOO TOOLBAR. A user at client system530 may enter a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other addressdirecting the web browser 532 to a particular server (such as server562, or a server associated with a third-party system 570), and the webbrowser 532 may generate a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) requestand communicate the HTTP request to server. The server may accept theHTTP request and communicate to client system 530 one or more Hyper TextMarkup Language (HTML) files responsive to the HTTP request. Clientsystem 530 may render a webpage based on the HTML files from the serverfor presentation to the user. This disclosure contemplates any suitablewebpage files. As an example and not by way of limitation, webpages mayrender from HTML files, Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language (XHTML)files, or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, according toparticular needs. Such pages may also execute scripts such as, forexample and without limitation, those written in JAVASCRIPT, JAVA,MICROSOFT SILVERLIGHT, combinations of markup language and scripts suchas AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT and XML), and the like. Herein,reference to a webpage encompasses one or more corresponding webpagefiles (which a browser may use to render the webpage) and vice versa,where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may be anetwork-addressable computing system that can host an online socialnetwork. Social-networking system 560 may generate, store, receive, andsend social-networking data, such as, for example, user-profile data,concept-profile data, social-graph information, or other suitable datarelated to the online social network. Social-networking system 560 maybe accessed by the other components of network environment 500 eitherdirectly or via network 510. As an example and not by way of limitation,client system 530 may access social-networking system 560 using a webbrowser 532, or a native application associated with social-networkingsystem 560 (e.g., a mobile social-networking application, a messagingapplication, another suitable application, or any combination thereof)either directly or via network 510. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may include one or more servers 562. Eachserver 562 may be a unitary server or a distributed server spanningmultiple computers or multiple datacenters. Servers 562 may be ofvarious types, such as, for example and without limitation, web server,news server, mail server, message server, advertising server, fileserver, application server, exchange server, database server, proxyserver, another server suitable for performing functions or processesdescribed herein, or any combination thereof. In particular embodiments,each server 562 may include hardware, software, or embedded logiccomponents or a combination of two or more such components for carryingout the appropriate functionalities implemented or supported by server562. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may includeone or more data stores 564. Data stores 564 may be used to storevarious types of information. In particular embodiments, the informationstored in data stores 564 may be organized according to specific datastructures. In particular embodiments, each data store 564 may be arelational, columnar, correlation, or other suitable database. Althoughthis disclosure describes or illustrates particular types of databases,this disclosure contemplates any suitable types of databases. Particularembodiments may provide interfaces that enable a client system 530, asocial-networking system 560, or a third-party system 570 to manage,retrieve, modify, add, or delete, the information stored in data store564.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may store one ormore social graphs in one or more data stores 564. In particularembodiments, a social graph may include multiple nodes—which may includemultiple user nodes (each corresponding to a particular user) ormultiple concept nodes (each corresponding to a particular concept)—andmultiple edges connecting the nodes. Social-networking system 560 mayprovide users of the online social network the ability to communicateand interact with other users. In particular embodiments, users may jointhe online social network via social-networking system 560 and then addconnections (e.g., relationships) to a number of other users ofsocial-networking system 560 to whom they want to be connected. Herein,the term “friend” may refer to any other user of social-networkingsystem 560 with whom a user has formed a connection, association, orrelationship via social-networking system 560.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may provideusers with the ability to take actions on various types of items orobjects, supported by social-networking system 560. As an example andnot by way of limitation, the items and objects may include groups orsocial networks to which users of social-networking system 560 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use, transactions that allowusers to buy or sell items via the service, interactions withadvertisements that a user may perform, or other suitable items orobjects. A user may interact with anything that is capable of beingrepresented in social-networking system 560 or by an external system ofthird-party system 570, which is separate from social-networking system560 and coupled to social-networking system 560 via a network 510.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may be capableof linking a variety of entities. As an example and not by way oflimitation, social-networking system 560 may enable users to interactwith each other as well as receive content from third-party systems 570or other entities, or to allow users to interact with these entitiesthrough an application programming interfaces (API) or othercommunication channels.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 570 may include one ormore types of servers, one or more data stores, one or more interfaces,including but not limited to APIs, one or more web services, one or morecontent sources, one or more networks, or any other suitable components,e.g., that servers may communicate with. A third-party system 570 may beoperated by a different entity from an entity operatingsocial-networking system 560. In particular embodiments, however,social-networking system 560 and third-party systems 570 may operate inconjunction with each other to provide social-networking services tousers of social-networking system 560 or third-party systems 570. Inthis sense, social-networking system 560 may provide a platform, orbackbone, which other systems, such as third-party systems 570, may useto provide social-networking services and functionality to users acrossthe Internet.

In particular embodiments, a third-party system 570 may include athird-party content object provider. A third-party content objectprovider may include one or more sources of content objects, which maybe communicated to a client system 530. As an example and not by way oflimitation, content objects may include information regarding things oractivities of interest to the user, such as, for example, movie showtimes, movie reviews, restaurant reviews, restaurant menus, productinformation and reviews, or other suitable information. As anotherexample and not by way of limitation, content objects may includeincentive content objects, such as coupons, discount tickets, giftcertificates, or other suitable incentive objects.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 also includesuser-generated content objects, which may enhance a user's interactionswith social-networking system 560. User-generated content may includeanything a user can add, upload, send, or “post” to social-networkingsystem 560. As an example and not by way of limitation, a usercommunicates posts to social-networking system 560 from a client system530. Posts may include data such as status updates or other textualdata, location information, photos, videos, links, music or othersimilar data or media. Content may also be added to social-networkingsystem 560 by a third-party through a “communication channel,” such as anewsfeed or stream.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may include avariety of servers, sub-systems, programs, modules, logs, and datastores. In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 mayinclude one or more of the following: a web server, action logger,API-request server, relevance-and-ranking engine, content-objectclassifier, notification controller, action log,third-party-content-object-exposure log, inference module,authorization/privacy server, search module, advertisement-targetingmodule, user-interface module, user-profile store, connection store,third-party content store, or location store. Social-networking system560 may also include suitable components such as network interfaces,security mechanisms, load balancers, failover servers,management-and-network-operations consoles, other suitable components,or any suitable combination thereof. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may include one or more user-profile storesfor storing user profiles. A user profile may include, for example,biographic information, demographic information, behavioral information,social information, or other types of descriptive information, such aswork experience, educational history, hobbies or preferences, interests,affinities, or location. Interest information may include interestsrelated to one or more categories. Categories may be general orspecific. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a user “likes”an article about a brand of shoes the category may be the brand, or thegeneral category of “shoes” or “clothing.” A connection store may beused for storing connection information about users. The connectioninformation may indicate users who have similar or common workexperience, group memberships, hobbies, educational history, or are inany way related or share common attributes. The connection informationmay also include user-defined connections between different users andcontent (both internal and external). A web server may be used forlinking social-networking system 560 to one or more client systems 530or one or more third-party system 570 via network 510. The web servermay include a mail server or other messaging functionality for receivingand routing messages between social-networking system 560 and one ormore client systems 530. An API-request server may allow a third-partysystem 570 to access information from social-networking system 560 bycalling one or more APIs. An action logger may be used to receivecommunications from a web server about a user's actions on or offsocial-networking system 560. In conjunction with the action log, athird-party-content-object log may be maintained of user exposures tothird-party-content objects. A notification controller may provideinformation regarding content objects to a client system 530.Information may be pushed to a client system 530 as notifications, orinformation may be pulled from client system 530 responsive to a requestreceived from client system 530. Authorization servers may be used toenforce one or more privacy settings of the users of social-networkingsystem 560. A privacy setting of a user determines how particularinformation associated with a user can be shared. The authorizationserver may allow users to opt in to or opt out of having their actionslogged by social-networking system 560 or shared with other systems(e.g., third-party system 570), such as, for example, by settingappropriate privacy settings. Third-party-content-object stores may beused to store content objects received from third parties, such as athird-party system 570. Location stores may be used for storing locationinformation received from client systems 530 associated with users.Advertisement-pricing modules may combine social information, thecurrent time, location information, or other suitable information toprovide relevant advertisements, in the form of notifications, to auser.

Social Graphs

FIG. 6 illustrates example social graph 600. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may store one or more social graphs 600 inone or more data stores. In particular embodiments, social graph 600 mayinclude multiple nodes—which may include multiple user nodes 602 ormultiple concept nodes 604—and multiple edges 606 connecting the nodes.Example social graph 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 is shown, for didacticpurposes, in a two-dimensional visual map representation. In particularembodiments, a social-networking system 560, client system 530, orthird-party system 570 may access social graph 600 and relatedsocial-graph information for suitable applications. The nodes and edgesof social graph 600 may be stored as data objects, for example, in adata store (such as a social-graph database). Such a data store mayinclude one or more searchable or queryable indexes of nodes or edges ofsocial graph 600.

In particular embodiments, a user node 602 may correspond to a user ofsocial-networking system 560. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user may be an individual (human user), an entity (e.g.,an enterprise, business, or third-party application), or a group (e.g.,of individuals or entities) that interacts or communicates with or oversocial-networking system 560. In particular embodiments, when a userregisters for an account with social-networking system 560,social-networking system 560 may create a user node 602 corresponding tothe user, and store the user node 602 in one or more data stores. Usersand user nodes 602 described herein may, where appropriate, refer toregistered users and user nodes 602 associated with registered users. Inaddition or as an alternative, users and user nodes 602 described hereinmay, where appropriate, refer to users that have not registered withsocial-networking system 560. In particular embodiments, a user node 602may be associated with information provided by a user or informationgathered by various systems, including social-networking system 560. Asan example and not by way of limitation, a user may provide his or hername, profile picture, contact information, birth date, sex, maritalstatus, family status, employment, education background, preferences,interests, or other demographic information. In particular embodiments,a user node 602 may be associated with one or more data objectscorresponding to information associated with a user. In particularembodiments, a user node 602 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 604 may correspond to aconcept. As an example and not by way of limitation, a concept maycorrespond to a place (such as, for example, a movie theater,restaurant, landmark, or city); a website (such as, for example, awebsite associated with social-network system 560 or a third-partywebsite associated with a web-application server); an entity (such as,for example, a person, business, group, sports team, or celebrity); aresource (such as, for example, an audio file, video file, digitalphoto, text file, structured document, or application) which may belocated within social-networking system 560 or on an external server,such as a web-application server; real or intellectual property (suchas, for example, a sculpture, painting, movie, game, song, idea,photograph, or written work); a game; an activity; an idea or theory; anobject in a augmented/virtual reality environment; another suitableconcept; or two or more such concepts. A concept node 604 may beassociated with information of a concept provided by a user orinformation gathered by various systems, including social-networkingsystem 560. As an example and not by way of limitation, information of aconcept may include a name or a title; one or more images (e.g., animage of the cover page of a book); a location (e.g., an address or ageographical location); a website (which may be associated with a URL);contact information (e.g., a phone number or an email address); othersuitable concept information; or any suitable combination of suchinformation. In particular embodiments, a concept node 604 may beassociated with one or more data objects corresponding to informationassociated with concept node 604. In particular embodiments, a conceptnode 604 may correspond to one or more webpages.

In particular embodiments, a node in social graph 600 may represent orbe represented by a webpage (which may be referred to as a “profilepage”). Profile pages may be hosted by or accessible tosocial-networking system 560. Profile pages may also be hosted onthird-party websites associated with a third-party system 570. As anexample and not by way of limitation, a profile page corresponding to aparticular external webpage may be the particular external webpage andthe profile page may correspond to a particular concept node 604.Profile pages may be viewable by all or a selected subset of otherusers. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user node 602 mayhave a corresponding user-profile page in which the corresponding usermay add content, make declarations, or otherwise express himself orherself. As another example and not by way of limitation, a concept node604 may have a corresponding concept-profile page in which one or moreusers may add content, make declarations, or express themselves,particularly in relation to the concept corresponding to concept node604.

In particular embodiments, a concept node 604 may represent athird-party webpage or resource hosted by a third-party system 570. Thethird-party webpage or resource may include, among other elements,content, a selectable or other icon, or other inter-actable object(which may be implemented, for example, in JavaScript, AJAX, or PHPcodes) representing an action or activity. As an example and not by wayof limitation, a third-party webpage may include a selectable icon suchas “like,” “check-in,” “eat,” “recommend,” or another suitable action oractivity. A user viewing the third-party webpage may perform an actionby selecting one of the icons (e.g., “check-in”), causing a clientsystem 530 to send to social-networking system 560 a message indicatingthe user's action. In response to the message, social-networking system560 may create an edge (e.g., a check-in-type edge) between a user node602 corresponding to the user and a concept node 604 corresponding tothe third-party webpage or resource and store edge 606 in one or moredata stores.

In particular embodiments, a pair of nodes in social graph 600 may beconnected to each other by one or more edges 606. An edge 606 connectinga pair of nodes may represent a relationship between the pair of nodes.In particular embodiments, an edge 606 may include or represent one ormore data objects or attributes corresponding to the relationshipbetween a pair of nodes. As an example and not by way of limitation, afirst user may indicate that a second user is a “friend” of the firstuser. In response to this indication, social-networking system 560 maysend a “friend request” to the second user. If the second user confirmsthe “friend request,” social-networking system 560 may create an edge606 connecting the first user's user node 602 to the second user's usernode 602 in social graph 600 and store edge 606 as social-graphinformation in one or more of data stores 564. In the example of FIG. 6,social graph 600 includes an edge 606 indicating a friend relationbetween user nodes 602 of user “A” and user “B” and an edge indicating afriend relation between user nodes 602 of user “C” and user “B.”Although this disclosure describes or illustrates particular edges 606with particular attributes connecting particular user nodes 602, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 606 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 602. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 606 may represent a friendship, family relationship,business or employment relationship, fan relationship (including, e.g.,liking, etc.), follower relationship, visitor relationship (including,e.g., accessing, viewing, checking-in, sharing, etc.), subscriberrelationship, superior/subordinate relationship, reciprocalrelationship, non-reciprocal relationship, another suitable type ofrelationship, or two or more such relationships. Moreover, although thisdisclosure generally describes nodes as being connected, this disclosurealso describes users or concepts as being connected. Herein, referencesto users or concepts being connected may, where appropriate, refer tothe nodes corresponding to those users or concepts being connected insocial graph 600 by one or more edges 606.

In particular embodiments, an edge 606 between a user node 602 and aconcept node 604 may represent a particular action or activity performedby a user associated with user node 602 toward a concept associated witha concept node 604. As an example and not by way of limitation, asillustrated in FIG. 6, a user may “like,” “attended,” “played,”“listened,” “cooked,” “worked at,” or “watched” a concept, each of whichmay correspond to an edge type or subtype. A concept-profile pagecorresponding to a concept node 604 may include, for example, aselectable “check in” icon (such as, for example, a clickable “check in”icon) or a selectable “add to favorites” icon. Similarly, after a userclicks these icons, social-networking system 560 may create a “favorite”edge or a “check in” edge in response to a user's action correspondingto a respective action. As another example and not by way of limitation,a user (user “C”) may listen to a particular song (“Imagine”) using aparticular application (SPOTIFY, which is an online music application).In this case, social-networking system 560 may create a “listened” edge606 and a “used” edge (as illustrated in FIG. 6) between user nodes 602corresponding to the user and concept nodes 604 corresponding to thesong and application to indicate that the user listened to the song andused the application. Moreover, social-networking system 560 may createa “played” edge 606 (as illustrated in FIG. 6) between concept nodes 604corresponding to the song and the application to indicate that theparticular song was played by the particular application. In this case,“played” edge 606 corresponds to an action performed by an externalapplication (SPOTIFY) on an external audio file (the song “Imagine”).Although this disclosure describes particular edges 606 with particularattributes connecting user nodes 602 and concept nodes 604, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable edges 606 with any suitableattributes connecting user nodes 602 and concept nodes 604. Moreover,although this disclosure describes edges between a user node 602 and aconcept node 604 representing a single relationship, this disclosurecontemplates edges between a user node 602 and a concept node 604representing one or more relationships. As an example and not by way oflimitation, an edge 606 may represent both that a user likes and hasused at a particular concept. Alternatively, another edge 606 mayrepresent each type of relationship (or multiples of a singlerelationship) between a user node 602 and a concept node 604 (asillustrated in FIG. 6 between user node 602 for user “E” and conceptnode 604 for “SPOTIFY”).

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may create anedge 606 between a user node 602 and a concept node 604 in social graph600. As an example and not by way of limitation, a user viewing aconcept-profile page (such as, for example, by using a web browser or aspecial-purpose application hosted by the user's client system 530) mayindicate that he or she likes the concept represented by the conceptnode 604 by clicking or selecting a “Like” icon, which may cause theuser's client system 530 to send to social-networking system 560 amessage indicating the user's liking of the concept associated with theconcept-profile page. In response to the message, social-networkingsystem 560 may create an edge 606 between user node 602 associated withthe user and concept node 604, as illustrated by “like” edge 606 betweenthe user and concept node 604. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may store an edge 606 in one or more datastores. In particular embodiments, an edge 606 may be automaticallyformed by social-networking system 560 in response to a particular useraction. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a first useruploads a picture, watches a movie, or listens to a song, an edge 606may be formed between user node 602 corresponding to the first user andconcept nodes 604 corresponding to those concepts. Although thisdisclosure describes forming particular edges 606 in particular manners,this disclosure contemplates forming any suitable edges 606 in anysuitable manner.

Social Graph Affinity and Coefficient

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may determinethe social-graph affinity (which may be referred to herein as“affinity”) of various social-graph entities for each other. Affinitymay represent the strength of a relationship or level of interestbetween particular objects associated with the online social network,such as users, concepts, content, actions, advertisements, other objectsassociated with the online social network, or any suitable combinationthereof. Affinity may also be determined with respect to objectsassociated with third-party systems 570 or other suitable systems. Anoverall affinity for a social-graph entity for each user, subjectmatter, or type of content may be established. The overall affinity maychange based on continued monitoring of the actions or relationshipsassociated with the social-graph entity. Although this disclosuredescribes determining particular affinities in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates determining any suitable affinities in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may measure orquantify social-graph affinity using an affinity coefficient (which maybe referred to herein as “coefficient”). The coefficient may representor quantify the strength of a relationship between particular objectsassociated with the online social network. The coefficient may alsorepresent a probability or function that measures a predictedprobability that a user will perform a particular action based on theuser's interest in the action. In this way, a user's future actions maybe predicted based on the user's prior actions, where the coefficientmay be calculated at least in part on the history of the user's actions.Coefficients may be used to predict any number of actions, which may bewithin or outside of the online social network. As an example and not byway of limitation, these actions may include various types ofcommunications, such as sending messages, posting content, or commentingon content; various types of observation actions, such as accessing orviewing profile pages, media, or other suitable content; various typesof coincidence information about two or more social-graph entities, suchas being in the same group, tagged in the same photograph, checked-in atthe same location, or attending the same event; or other suitableactions. Although this disclosure describes measuring affinity in aparticular manner, this disclosure contemplates measuring affinity inany suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may use avariety of factors to calculate a coefficient. These factors mayinclude, for example, user actions, types of relationships betweenobjects, location information, other suitable factors, or anycombination thereof. In particular embodiments, different factors may beweighted differently when calculating the coefficient. The weights foreach factor may be static or the weights may change according to, forexample, the user, the type of relationship, the type of action, theuser's location, and so forth. Ratings for the factors may be combinedaccording to their weights to determine an overall coefficient for theuser. As an example and not by way of limitation, particular useractions may be assigned both a rating and a weight while a relationshipassociated with the particular user action is assigned a rating and acorrelating weight (e.g., so the weights total 100%). To calculate thecoefficient of a user towards a particular object, the rating assignedto the user's actions may comprise, for example, 60% of the overallcoefficient, while the relationship between the user and the object maycomprise 40% of the overall coefficient. In particular embodiments, thesocial-networking system 560 may consider a variety of variables whendetermining weights for various factors used to calculate a coefficient,such as, for example, the time since information was accessed, decayfactors, frequency of access, relationship to information orrelationship to the object about which information was accessed,relationship to social-graph entities connected to the object, short- orlong-term averages of user actions, user feedback, other suitablevariables, or any combination thereof. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a coefficient may include a decay factor that causes thestrength of the signal provided by particular actions to decay withtime, such that more recent actions are more relevant when calculatingthe coefficient. The ratings and weights may be continuously updatedbased on continued tracking of the actions upon which the coefficient isbased. Any type of process or algorithm may be employed for assigning,combining, averaging, and so forth the ratings for each factor and theweights assigned to the factors. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may determine coefficients usingmachine-learning algorithms trained on historical actions and past userresponses, or data farmed from users by exposing them to various optionsand measuring responses. Although this disclosure describes calculatingcoefficients in a particular manner, this disclosure contemplatescalculating coefficients in any suitable manner.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may calculate acoefficient based on a user's actions. Social-networking system 560 maymonitor such actions on the online social network, on a third-partysystem 570, on other suitable systems, or any combination thereof. Anysuitable type of user actions may be tracked or monitored. Typical useractions include viewing profile pages, creating or posting content,interacting with content, tagging or being tagged in images, joininggroups, listing and confirming attendance at events, checking-in atlocations, liking particular pages, creating pages, and performing othertasks that facilitate social action. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may calculate a coefficient based on theuser's actions with particular types of content. The content may beassociated with the online social network, a third-party system 570, oranother suitable system. The content may include users, profile pages,posts, news stories, headlines, instant messages, chat roomconversations, emails, advertisements, pictures, video, music, othersuitable objects, or any combination thereof. Social-networking system560 may analyze a user's actions to determine whether one or more of theactions indicate an affinity for subject matter, content, other users,and so forth. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a userfrequently posts content related to “coffee” or variants thereof,social-networking system 560 may determine the user has a highcoefficient with respect to the concept “coffee”. Particular actions ortypes of actions may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating thanother actions, which may affect the overall calculated coefficient. Asan example and not by way of limitation, if a first user emails a seconduser, the weight or the rating for the action may be higher than if thefirst user simply views the user-profile page for the second user.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may calculate acoefficient based on the type of relationship between particularobjects. Referencing the social graph 600, social-networking system 560may analyze the number and/or type of edges 606 connecting particularuser nodes 602 and concept nodes 604 when calculating a coefficient. Asan example and not by way of limitation, user nodes 602 that areconnected by a spouse-type edge (representing that the two users aremarried) may be assigned a higher coefficient than a user nodes 602 thatare connected by a friend-type edge. In other words, depending upon theweights assigned to the actions and relationships for the particularuser, the overall affinity may be determined to be higher for contentabout the user's spouse than for content about the user's friend. Inparticular embodiments, the relationships a user has with another objectmay affect the weights and/or the ratings of the user's actions withrespect to calculating the coefficient for that object. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, if a user is tagged in a first photo, butmerely likes a second photo, social-networking system 560 may determinethat the user has a higher coefficient with respect to the first photothan the second photo because having a tagged-in-type relationship withcontent may be assigned a higher weight and/or rating than having alike-type relationship with content. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may calculate a coefficient for a firstuser based on the relationship one or more second users have with aparticular object. In other words, the connections and coefficientsother users have with an object may affect the first user's coefficientfor the object. As an example and not by way of limitation, if a firstuser is connected to or has a high coefficient for one or more secondusers, and those second users are connected to or have a highcoefficient for a particular object, social-networking system 560 maydetermine that the first user should also have a relatively highcoefficient for the particular object. In particular embodiments, thecoefficient may be based on the degree of separation between particularobjects. The degree of separation between two objects represented by twonodes, respectively, is a count of edges in a shortest path connectingthe two nodes in the social graph 600. As an example and not by way oflimitation, in the social graph 600, the user node 602 of user “C” isconnected to the user node 602 of user “A” via multiple paths including,for example, a first path directly passing through the user node 602 ofuser “B,” a second path passing through the concept node 604 of company“Acme” and the user node 602 of user “D,” and a third path passingthrough the user nodes 602 and concept nodes 604 representing school“Stanford,” user “G,” company “Acme,” and user “D.” User “C” and user“A” have a degree of separation of two because the shortest pathconnecting their corresponding nodes (i.e., the first path) includes twoedges 606. The lower coefficient may represent the decreasing likelihoodthat the first user will share an interest in content objects of theuser that is indirectly connected to the first user in the social graph600. As an example and not by way of limitation, social-graph entitiesthat are closer in the social graph 600 (i.e., fewer degrees ofseparation) may have a higher coefficient than entities that are furtherapart in the social graph 600.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may calculate acoefficient based on location information. Objects that aregeographically closer to each other may be considered to be more relatedor of more interest to each other than more distant objects. Inparticular embodiments, the coefficient of a user towards a particularobject may be based on the proximity of the object's location to acurrent location associated with the user (or the location of a clientsystem 530 of the user). A first user may be more interested in otherusers or concepts that are closer to the first user. As an example andnot by way of limitation, if a user is one mile from an airport and twomiles from a gas station, social-networking system 560 may determinethat the user has a higher coefficient for the airport than the gasstation based on the proximity of the airport to the user.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may performparticular actions with respect to a user based on coefficientinformation. Coefficients may be used to predict whether a user willperform a particular action based on the user's interest in the action.A coefficient may be used when generating or presenting any type ofobjects to a user, such as advertisements, search results, news stories,media, messages, notifications, or other suitable objects. Thecoefficient may also be utilized to rank and order such objects, asappropriate. In this way, social-networking system 560 may provideinformation that is relevant to user's interests and currentcircumstances, increasing the likelihood that they will find suchinformation of interest. In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 560 may generate content based on coefficient information.Content objects may be provided or selected based on coefficientsspecific to a user. As an example and not by way of limitation, thecoefficient may be used to generate media for the user, where the usermay be presented with media for which the user has a high overallcoefficient with respect to the media object. As another example and notby way of limitation, the coefficient may be used to generateadvertisements for the user, where the user may be presented withadvertisements for which the user has a high overall coefficient withrespect to the advertised object. In particular embodiments,social-networking system 560 may generate search results based oncoefficient information. Search results for a particular user may bescored or ranked based on the coefficient associated with the searchresults with respect to the querying user. As an example and not by wayof limitation, search results corresponding to objects with highercoefficients may be ranked higher on a search-results page than resultscorresponding to objects having lower coefficients.

In particular embodiments, social-networking system 560 may calculate acoefficient in response to a request for a coefficient from a particularsystem or process. To predict the likely actions a user may take (or maybe the subject of) in a given situation, any process may request acalculated coefficient for a user. The request may also include a set ofweights to use for various factors used to calculate the coefficient.This request may come from a process running on the online socialnetwork, from a third-party system 570 (e.g., via an API or othercommunication channel), or from another suitable system. In response tothe request, social-networking system 560 may calculate the coefficient(or access the coefficient information if it has previously beencalculated and stored). In particular embodiments, social-networkingsystem 560 may measure an affinity with respect to a particular process.Different processes (both internal and external to the online socialnetwork) may request a coefficient for a particular object or set ofobjects. Social-networking system 560 may provide a measure of affinitythat is relevant to the particular process that requested the measure ofaffinity. In this way, each process receives a measure of affinity thatis tailored for the different context in which the process will use themeasure of affinity.

In connection with social-graph affinity and affinity coefficients,particular embodiments may utilize one or more systems, components,elements, functions, methods, operations, or steps disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/503093, filed 11 Aug. 2006, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/977027, filed 22 Dec. 2010, U.S. p;atentapplication Ser. No. 12/978265, filed 23 Dec. 2010, and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/632869, filed 1 Oct. 2012, each of which isincorporated by reference.

Privacy

In particular embodiments, one or more of the content objects of theonline social network may be associated with a privacy setting. Theprivacy settings (or “access settings”) for an object may be stored inany suitable manner, such as, for example, in association with theobject, in an index on an authorization server, in another suitablemanner, or any combination thereof. A privacy setting of an object mayspecify how the object (or particular information associated with anobject) can be accessed (e.g., viewed or shared) using the online socialnetwork. Where the privacy settings for an object allow a particularuser to access that object, the object may be described as being“visible” with respect to that user. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a user of the online social network may specify privacysettings for a user-profile page that identify a set of users that mayaccess the work experience information on the user-profile page, thusexcluding other users from accessing the information. In particularembodiments, the privacy settings may specify a “blocked list” of usersthat should not be allowed to access certain information associated withthe object. In other words, the blocked list may specify one or moreusers or entities for which an object is not visible. As an example andnot by way of limitation, a user may specify a set of users that may notaccess photos albums associated with the user, thus excluding thoseusers from accessing the photo albums (while also possibly allowingcertain users not within the set of users to access the photo albums).In particular embodiments, privacy settings may be associated withparticular social-graph elements. Privacy settings of a social-graphelement, such as a node or an edge, may specify how the social-graphelement, information associated with the social-graph element, orcontent objects associated with the social-graph element can be accessedusing the online social network. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a particular concept node 604 corresponding to a particularphoto may have a privacy setting specifying that the photo may only beaccessed by users tagged in the photo and their friends. In particularembodiments, privacy settings may allow users to opt in or opt out ofhaving their actions logged by social-networking system 560 or sharedwith other systems (e.g., third-party system 570). In particularembodiments, the privacy settings associated with an object may specifyany suitable granularity of permitted access or denial of access. As anexample and not by way of limitation, access or denial of access may bespecified for particular users (e.g., only me, my roommates, and myboss), users within a particular degrees-of-separation (e.g., friends,or friends-of-friends), user groups (e.g., the gaming club, my family),user networks (e.g., employees of particular employers, students oralumni of particular university), all users (“public”), no users(“private”), users of third-party systems 570, particular applications(e.g., third-party applications, external websites), other suitableusers or entities, or any combination thereof. Although this disclosuredescribes using particular privacy settings in a particular manner, thisdisclosure contemplates using any suitable privacy settings in anysuitable manner.

In particular embodiments, one or more servers 562 may beauthorization/privacy servers for enforcing privacy settings. Inresponse to a request from a user (or other entity) for a particularobject stored in a data store 564, social-networking system 560 may senda request to the data store 564 for the object. The request may identifythe user associated with the request and may only be sent to the user(or a client system 530 of the user) if the authorization serverdetermines that the user is authorized to access the object based on theprivacy settings associated with the object. If the requesting user isnot authorized to access the object, the authorization server mayprevent the requested object from being retrieved from the data store564, or may prevent the requested object from being sent to the user. Inthe search query context, an object may only be generated as a searchresult if the querying user is authorized to access the object. In otherwords, the object must have a visibility that is visible to the queryinguser. If the object has a visibility that is not visible to the user,the object may be excluded from the search results. Although thisdisclosure describes enforcing privacy settings in a particular manner,this disclosure contemplates enforcing privacy settings in any suitablemanner.

Systems and Methods

FIG. 7 illustrates an example computer system 700. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 700 perform one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein. In particularembodiments, one or more computer systems 700 provide functionalitydescribed or illustrated herein. In particular embodiments, softwarerunning on one or more computer systems 700 performs one or more stepsof one or more methods described or illustrated herein or providesfunctionality described or illustrated herein. Particular embodimentsinclude one or more portions of one or more computer systems 700.Herein, reference to a computer system may encompass a computing device,and vice versa, where appropriate. Moreover, reference to a computersystem may encompass one or more computer systems, where appropriate.

This disclosure contemplates any suitable number of computer systems700. This disclosure contemplates computer system 700 taking anysuitable physical form. As example and not by way of limitation,computer system 700 may be an embedded computer system, a system-on-chip(SOC), a single-board computer system (SBC) (such as, for example, acomputer-on-module (COM) or system-on-module (SOM)), a desktop computersystem, a laptop or notebook computer system, an interactive kiosk, amainframe, a mesh of computer systems, a mobile telephone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a server, a tablet computer system, anaugmented/virtual reality device, or a combination of two or more ofthese. Where appropriate, computer system 700 may include one or morecomputer systems 700; be unitary or distributed; span multiplelocations; span multiple machines; span multiple data centers; or residein a cloud, which may include one or more cloud components in one ormore networks. Where appropriate, one or more computer systems 700 mayperform without substantial spatial or temporal limitation one or moresteps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein. As anexample and not by way of limitation, one or more computer systems 700may perform in real time or in batch mode one or more steps of one ormore methods described or illustrated herein. One or more computersystems 700 may perform at different times or at different locations oneor more steps of one or more methods described or illustrated herein,where appropriate.

In particular embodiments, computer system 700 includes a processor 702,memory 704, storage 706, an input/output (I/O) interface 708, acommunication interface 710, and a bus 712. Although this disclosuredescribes and illustrates a particular computer system having aparticular number of particular components in a particular arrangement,this disclosure contemplates any suitable computer system having anysuitable number of any suitable components in any suitable arrangement.

In particular embodiments, processor 702 includes hardware for executinginstructions, such as those making up a computer program. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, to execute instructions, processor 702 mayretrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, aninternal cache, memory 704, or storage 706; decode and execute them; andthen write one or more results to an internal register, an internalcache, memory 704, or storage 706. In particular embodiments, processor702 may include one or more internal caches for data, instructions, oraddresses. This disclosure contemplates processor 702 including anysuitable number of any suitable internal caches, where appropriate. Asan example and not by way of limitation, processor 702 may include oneor more instruction caches, one or more data caches, and one or moretranslation lookaside buffers (TLBs). Instructions in the instructioncaches may be copies of instructions in memory 704 or storage 706, andthe instruction caches may speed up retrieval of those instructions byprocessor 702. Data in the data caches may be copies of data in memory704 or storage 706 for instructions executing at processor 702 tooperate on; the results of previous instructions executed at processor702 for access by subsequent instructions executing at processor 702 orfor writing to memory 704 or storage 706; or other suitable data. Thedata caches may speed up read or write operations by processor 702. TheTLBs may speed up virtual-address translation for processor 702. Inparticular embodiments, processor 702 may include one or more internalregisters for data, instructions, or addresses. This disclosurecontemplates processor 702 including any suitable number of any suitableinternal registers, where appropriate. Where appropriate, processor 702may include one or more arithmetic logic units (ALUs); be a multi-coreprocessor; or include one or more processors 702. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular processor, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable processor.

In particular embodiments, memory 704 includes main memory for storinginstructions for processor 702 to execute or data for processor 702 tooperate on. As an example and not by way of limitation, computer system700 may load instructions from storage 706 or another source (such as,for example, another computer system 700) to memory 704. Processor 702may then load the instructions from memory 704 to an internal registeror internal cache. To execute the instructions, processor 702 mayretrieve the instructions from the internal register or internal cacheand decode them. During or after execution of the instructions,processor 702 may write one or more results (which may be intermediateor final results) to the internal register or internal cache. Processor702 may then write one or more of those results to memory 704. Inparticular embodiments, processor 702 executes only instructions in oneor more internal registers or internal caches or in memory 704 (asopposed to storage 706 or elsewhere) and operates only on data in one ormore internal registers or internal caches or in memory 704 (as opposedto storage 706 or elsewhere). One or more memory buses (which may eachinclude an address bus and a data bus) may couple processor 702 tomemory 704. Bus 712 may include one or more memory buses, as describedbelow. In particular embodiments, one or more memory management units(MMUs) reside between processor 702 and memory 704 and facilitateaccesses to memory 704 requested by processor 702. In particularembodiments, memory 704 includes random access memory (RAM). This RAMmay be volatile memory, where appropriate. Where appropriate, this RAMmay be dynamic RAM (DRAM) or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, whereappropriate, this RAM may be single-ported or multi-ported RAM. Thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable RAM. Memory 704 may include one ormore memories 704, where appropriate. Although this disclosure describesand illustrates particular memory, this disclosure contemplates anysuitable memory.

In particular embodiments, storage 706 includes mass storage for data orinstructions. As an example and not by way of limitation, storage 706may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory,an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more of these. Storage706 may include removable or non-removable (or fixed) media, whereappropriate. Storage 706 may be internal or external to computer system700, where appropriate. In particular embodiments, storage 706 isnon-volatile, solid-state memory. In particular embodiments, storage 706includes read-only memory (ROM). Where appropriate, this ROM may bemask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM),electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), electrically alterable ROM (EAROM),or flash memory or a combination of two or more of these. Thisdisclosure contemplates mass storage 706 taking any suitable physicalform. Storage 706 may include one or more storage control unitsfacilitating communication between processor 702 and storage 706, whereappropriate. Where appropriate, storage 706 may include one or morestorages 706. Although this disclosure describes and illustratesparticular storage, this disclosure contemplates any suitable storage.

In particular embodiments, I/O interface 708 includes hardware,software, or both, providing one or more interfaces for communicationbetween computer system 700 and one or more I/O devices. Computer system700 may include one or more of these I/O devices, where appropriate. Oneor more of these I/O devices may enable communication between a personand computer system 700. As an example and not by way of limitation, anI/O device may include a keyboard, keypad, microphone, monitor, mouse,printer, scanner, speaker, still camera, stylus, tablet, touch screen,trackball, video camera, another suitable I/O device or a combination oftwo or more of these. An I/O device may include one or more sensors.This disclosure contemplates any suitable I/O devices and any suitableI/O interfaces 708 for them. Where appropriate, I/O interface 708 mayinclude one or more device or software drivers enabling processor 702 todrive one or more of these I/O devices. I/O interface 708 may includeone or more I/O interfaces 708, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular I/O interface, thisdisclosure contemplates any suitable I/O interface.

In particular embodiments, communication interface 710 includeshardware, software, or both providing one or more interfaces forcommunication (such as, for example, packet-based communication) betweencomputer system 700 and one or more other computer systems 700 or one ormore networks. As an example and not by way of limitation, communicationinterface 710 may include a network interface controller (NIC) ornetwork adapter for communicating with an Ethernet or other wire-basednetwork or a wireless NIC (WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicatingwith a wireless network, such as a WI-FI network. This disclosurecontemplates any suitable network and any suitable communicationinterface 710 for it. As an example and not by way of limitation,computer system 700 may communicate with an ad hoc network, a personalarea network (PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of theInternet or a combination of two or more of these. One or more portionsof one or more of these networks may be wired or wireless. As anexample, computer system 700 may communicate with a wireless PAN (WPAN)(such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), a WI-FI network, a WI-MAXnetwork, a cellular telephone network (such as, for example, a GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) network), or other suitablewireless network or a combination of two or more of these. Computersystem 700 may include any suitable communication interface 710 for anyof these networks, where appropriate. Communication interface 710 mayinclude one or more communication interfaces 710, where appropriate.Although this disclosure describes and illustrates a particularcommunication interface, this disclosure contemplates any suitablecommunication interface.

In particular embodiments, bus 712 includes hardware, software, or bothcoupling components of computer system 700 to each other. As an exampleand not by way of limitation, bus 712 may include an AcceleratedGraphics Port (AGP) or other graphics bus, an Enhanced Industry StandardArchitecture (EISA) bus, a front-side bus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT)interconnect, an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBANDinterconnect, a low-pin-count (LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro ChannelArchitecture (MCA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, aPCI-Express (PCIe) bus, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA)bus, a Video Electronics Standards Association local (VLB) bus, oranother suitable bus or a combination of two or more of these. Bus 712may include one or more buses 712, where appropriate. Although thisdisclosure describes and illustrates a particular bus, this disclosurecontemplates any suitable bus or interconnect.

Herein, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or media mayinclude one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits(ICs) (such, as for example, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) orapplication-specific ICs (ASICs)), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid harddrives (HHDs), optical discs, optical disc drives (ODDs),magneto-optical discs, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppydisk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid-state drives (SSDs),RAM-drives, SECURE DIGITAL cards or drives, any other suitablecomputer-readable non-transitory storage media, or any suitablecombination of two or more of these, where appropriate. Acomputer-readable non-transitory storage medium may be volatile,non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, whereappropriate.

Herein, “or” is inclusive and not exclusive, unless expressly indicatedotherwise or indicated otherwise by context. Therefore, herein, “A or B”means “A, B, or both,” unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicatedotherwise by context. Moreover, “and” is both joint and several, unlessexpressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.Therefore, herein, “A and B” means “A and B, jointly or severally,”unless expressly indicated otherwise or indicated otherwise by context.

The scope of this disclosure encompasses all changes, substitutions,variations, alterations, and modifications to the example embodimentsdescribed or illustrated herein that a person having ordinary skill inthe art would comprehend. The scope of this disclosure is not limited tothe example embodiments described or illustrated herein. Moreover,although this disclosure describes and illustrates respectiveembodiments herein as including particular components, elements,feature, functions, operations, or steps, any of these embodiments mayinclude any combination or permutation of any of the components,elements, features, functions, operations, or steps described orillustrated anywhere herein that a person having ordinary skill in theart would comprehend. Furthermore, reference in the appended claims toan apparatus or system or a component of an apparatus or system beingadapted to, arranged to, capable of, configured to, enabled to, operableto, or operative to perform a particular function encompasses thatapparatus, system, component, whether or not it or that particularfunction is activated, turned on, or unlocked, as long as thatapparatus, system, or component is so adapted, arranged, capable,configured, enabled, operable, or operative. Additionally, although thisdisclosure describes or illustrates particular embodiments as providingparticular advantages, particular embodiments may provide none, some, orall of these advantages.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising, by one or more computingsystems of an online social network: identifying, by the one or morecomputing systems, a plurality of users of the online social networkbased on one or more affinity coefficients between the users and ageographical location associated with each of the users; sending, by theone or more computing systems, a message corresponding to an activityrecommendation to each of the users, wherein the message comprises:identification information of one or more of the other users of theplurality of users, and a prompt for a response from the receiving userindicating whether the receiving user is interested in the recommendedactivity; receiving, by the one or more computing systems, one or moreresponses to the message from one or more users of the plurality ofusers, respectively, wherein each response indicates whether therespective user is interested in the recommended activity; andresponsive to receiving the one or more responses, by the one or morecomputing systems: if the response from each of at least two of theusers indicates an interest in the recommended activity, then sending anotification to each of the users who indicated an interest in therecommended activity identifying the other users who also indicated aninterest in the recommended activity, else, deactivating the activityrecommendation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying theplurality of users is based at least in part on proximity among one ormore of the geographical locations associated with one or more of theusers, respectively.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein each of theidentified users is within a particular degree of separation within asocial graph of the online social network from each of the otheridentified users.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the affinitycoefficient between a given pair of users is based at least in part onone or more of: a degree of separation between the users in a socialgraph of the online social network; a commonality between the users; asocial-interaction history between the users; or demographic informationof the users.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying theplurality of users is further based on one or more selection rules. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the selection rulesspecifies that identifying one or more of the users is based on acondition that the one or more of the users are not identified for adifferent activity recommendation within a specified time period.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the message comprises one or more of: a timeperiod associated with the activity recommendation; a geographicallocation associated with the activity recommendation; or a descriptionof the recommended activity.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theactivity recommendation is generated based on a common interestassociated with one or more of the identified users, the common interestbeing determined based on one or more user profiles associated with theone or more of the identified users, respectively.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: accessing a social graph comprising aplurality of nodes and a plurality of edges connecting the nodes, eachof the edges between two of the nodes representing a single degree ofseparation between them, the nodes comprising: a plurality of firstnodes corresponding to the plurality of users; and a plurality of secondnodes corresponding to a plurality of objects associated with the onlinesocial network, respectively; wherein the message further comprises areference to an object of the plurality of objects, the object beingassociated with the activity recommendation, wherein the second nodecorresponding to the referenced object is connected to one or more ofthe first nodes by one or more of the edges, respectively.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein sending the message is performed as part ofan activity-recommendation process of the online social network, whereinthe activity-recommendation process sends messages corresponding toactivity recommendations at a pre-determined frequency.
 11. The methodof claim 1, wherein the activity recommendation is associated with anexpiry date, and wherein the method further comprises deactivating theactivity recommendation when the expiry date has passed.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein sending the notification comprises initiating amessage thread including each of the users who indicated an interest inthe recommended activity.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein if theresponse from each of at least two of the users indicates an interest inthe recommended activity, then the method further comprises: identifyingone or more additional users of the online social network, wherein theadditional users are identified based on social-networking informationassociated with the at least two of the users; sending the messagecorresponding to the activity recommendation to each of the additionalusers; receiving one or more responses to the message from one or moreusers of the additional users, respectively, wherein each responseindicates that the respective additional user is interested in therecommended activity; and sending an additional notification to each ofthe users who indicated an interest in the recommended activityidentifying the other users who also indicated an interest in therecommended activity.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:generating the activity recommendation based on one or more of: one ormore prior activities associated with one or more users of the pluralityof users; one or more responses to one or more prior messagescorresponding to activity recommendations received from one or moreusers of the plurality of users; or one or more upcoming eventsassociated with one or more users of the plurality of users.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising, for a first user of the pluralityof users: recording one or more responses by the first user to one ormore prior messages corresponding to activity recommendations;identifying one or more second users identified in the prior messages;and compiling a list of users of interest to the first user, the listcomprising one or more of the second users.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of users comprise: a first user; and one or moresecond users identified in a list of users of interest to the first userreceived from the first user.
 17. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, for each user of the plurality of users: accessing one ormore privacy settings associated with the user; and determining, basedon the privacy settings and prior to sending the message, that thegeographical location of the user is visible to each of the other usersof the plurality of users.
 18. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising, for each user of the plurality of users: accessing one ormore privacy settings associated with the user; and verifying, based onthe privacy settings and prior to sending the message, that informationassociated with the user in the message is visible to each of the otherusers of the plurality of users.
 19. One or more computer-readablenon-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable whenexecuted to: identify a plurality of users of an online social networkbased on one or more affinity coefficients between the users and ageographical location associated with each of the users; send a messagecorresponding to an activity recommendation to each of the users,wherein the message comprises: identification information of one or moreof the other users of the plurality of users, and a prompt for aresponse from the receiving user indicating whether the receiving useris interested in the recommended activity; receive one or more responsesto the message from one or more users of the plurality of users,respectively, wherein each response indicates whether the correspondinguser is interested in the recommended activity; and responsive toreceiving the one or more responses: if the response from each of atleast two of the users indicates an interest in the recommendedactivity, then send a notification to each of the users who indicated aninterest in the recommended activity identifying the other users whoalso indicated an interest in the recommended activity, else, deactivatethe activity recommendation.
 20. A system comprising: one or moreprocessors; and one or more computer-readable non-transitory storagemedia coupled to one or more of the processors and comprisinginstructions operable when executed by one or more of the processors tocause the system to: identify a plurality of users of an online socialnetwork based on one or more affinity coefficients between the users anda geographical location associated with each of the users; send amessage corresponding to an activity recommendation to each of theusers, wherein the message comprises: identification information of oneor more of the other users of the plurality of users, and a prompt for aresponse from the receiving user indicating whether the receiving useris interested in the recommended activity; receive one or more responsesto the message from one or more users of the plurality of users,respectively, wherein each response indicates whether the correspondinguser is interested in the recommended activity; and responsive toreceiving the one or more responses: if the response from each of atleast two of the users indicates an interest in the recommendedactivity, then send a notification to each of the users who indicated aninterest in the recommended activity identifying the other users whoalso indicated an interest in the recommended activity, else, deactivatethe activity recommendation.